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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309825
Title: Conserved changes in dynamics of metabolic processes during fruit development and ripening across species

Author
item KLIE, SEBASTIAN - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry
item OSORIO, SONIA - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry
item TOHGE, TAKAYUKI - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry
item DRINKOVICH, MARIA - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry
item FIAT, ARON - Ben Gurion University Of Negev
item Giovannoni, James
item FERNIE, ALISDAIR - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry
item NIKOLOSKI, ZORAN - Max Planck Institute For Biogeochemistry

Submitted to: Plant Physiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/2014
Publication Date: 1/30/2014
Publication URL: DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.226142
Citation: Klie, S., Osorio, S., Tohge, T., Drinkovich, M., Fiat, A., Giovannoni, J.J., Fernie, A., Nikoloski, Z. 2014. Conserved changes in dynamics of metabolic processes during fruit development and ripening across species. Plant Physiology. 164(1):55-68.

Interpretive Summary: Computational analyses of molecular phenotypes traditionally aim at identifying biochemical components, which exhibit differential expression under various scenarios (e.g., environmental and internal perturbations) in a single species. High-throughput metabolomics technologies allow quantification of (relative) metabolite levels across developmental stages in different tissues, organs, and species. Novel analysis of the resulting multiple data tables could reveal preserved changes in the dynamics of metabolic processes across species. The problem we address in this study is twofold: we attempt to (i) derive a single data table, referred to as a compromise, which captures information common to the investigated set of multiple tables capturing different fruit development and ripening stages in three climacteric (i.e., peach and two tomato cultivars, Alice Craig and M82) and two non-climacteric (i.e., strawberry, pepper) fruits, and (ii) identify conservation of changes in the dynamics of metabolic processes, reflected in the data profiles of the corresponding metabolites contributing most to the determined compromise. Our analysis is based on an extension to principle component analysis called STATIS in combination with pathway over-enrichment analysis. Based on publically available metabolic profiles for the investigated species, we demonstrate that STATIS can be used to identify the metabolic processes whose behavior is similarly affected during the fruit development and ripening. These findings ultimately provide insights in the pathways, which are essential during fruit development and ripening across species.

Technical Abstract: Fleshy fruit undergo a novel developmental program that ends in the irreversible process of ripening and eventual tissue senescence. During these maturation processes, fruit undergo numerous physiological, biochemical and structural alterations, making them more attractive to seed dispersal organisms. Many data sets on the activity of genes and accumulation of metabolites (often associated with nutritional quality) have been developed by our groups and others. Here we explore these data sets to identify common themes in terms of gene expression and metabolite accumulation during ripening. This analysis allows us to identify common regulators that are likely conserved through evolution of ripening fruits.